Gardaí believe whoever repeatedly stabbed a man before setting his home on fire while he lay injured in it thought they had killed him, and set the fire in a crude effort to conceal their crime.
The investigating team is working on the theory that the injured man knew who attacked him and may be able to identify them if he survives.
However, an informed source who described the attack as “a barbaric act”, said it was unclear if the 24-year-old victim would survive as he had been stabbed 18 times and suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body before he managed to crawl out of his burning home.
Father-of-one Kieran Murphy was attacked sometime between 12.30am and 1.50am on Monday in the rented house where he lived alone at Coolcur, Rhode, Co Offaly.
Gardai believe the attack occurred in the property and that the victim, who has a number of drug-related convictions, was then left in the house as his attackers set it on fire.
He managed to crawl out to the back yard and two men returning from watching the hurling All Ireland final found him when they went to investigate theflames engulfing the small house.
Garda sources said while they were keeping an open mind on the motive for the attack, intelligence suggested the injured man, who is now fighting for his life, owed a small sum of money of around €1,000 to drug dealers. However, they said it was possible somebody who went looking for him to source drugs may have turned on him and attacked him, though that scenario is being treated as less likely.
After crawling out to the back yard, where he kept Kerry Blue and Pitbull Terrier dogs he was breeding, Mr Murphy was spotted injured and the alarm was raised.
He was initially taken to the Midland Regional Hospital at Tullamore. However, such werehis injuries that he was transferred to St James' Hospital in Dublin for specialist medical care and surgery.
He remained unconscious and critically ill at thehospital last night and Garda sources said the worst was feared. The property where the attack took place was completely destroyed by fire and some of the dogs Mr Murphy was keeping also perished in the flames. However, the charred shell of the house and the garden/yard around it have been examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
Inspector Kieran Keyes of Tullamore Garda station said the emergencyservices were alerted at about 1.50am. House to house inquiries are continuing in the Rhode area.
Insp Keyes appealed to anyone from the area who may have been in the vicinity of the house or saw anything unusual between midnight and2am on Monday to contact Tullamore station in confidence.
